With the same emotional generosity and effortlessly compelling storytelling that made All Over But the Shoutin’ a national bestseller, Rick Bragg continues his personal history of the Deep South. This time he’s writing about his grandfather Charlie Bundrum, a man who died before Bragg was born but left an indelible imprint on the people who loved him. Drawing on their memories, Bragg reconstructs the life of an unlettered roofer who kept food on his family’s table through the worst of the Great Depression; a moonshiner who drank exactly one pint for every gallon he sold; an unregenerate brawler, who could sit for hours with a baby in the crook of his arm.

In telling Charlie’s story, Bragg conjures up the backwoods hamlets of Georgia and Alabama in the years when the roads were still dirt and real men never cussed in front of ladies. A masterly family chronicle and a human portrait so vivid you can smell the cornbread and whiskey, Ava’s Man is unforgettable.

Review&colon;

The same fierce pride and love that animated All Over but the Shoutin' glow in Rick Bragg's new book. In fact, he informs us in the prologue that it was the readers of his bestselling 1997 memoir about his mother's struggle to raise three sons out of dire poverty who told him what he had to write about next. "People asked me where I believed my own momma's heart and backbone came from ... they said I short-shrifted them in the first book." Bragg sets out to make amends in this heartfelt biography of his maternal grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, who with wife Ava nurtured seven children through hard times that never seemed to ease in rural Alabama and Georgia. "He was a tall, bone-thin man who worked with nails in his teeth and a roofing hatchet in a fist as hard as Augusta brick," writes Bragg, "who inspired backwoods legend and the kind of loyalty that still makes old men dip their heads respectfully when they say his name." Charlie's children adored him so much that 40 years after his premature death in 1958 at age 51, Bragg's elderly aunts and mother began to cry when asked about him. Chronicling Charlie's hardscrabble life in the flinty, expressive cadences of working-class Southern speech, Bragg depicts a rugged individual who would find no place in the homogenized New South. The marvelous stories collected from various relatives--Charlie facing down a truckload of mean drunks with a hammer, hatchet, and 12-gauge shotgun, or brewing illegal white whiskey in the woods ("He never sold a sip that he did not test with his own liver")--are not just snapshots of a colorful character. They're also the author's tribute to an oral culture with tenacious roots and powerful significance in the American South. --Wendy Smith

From the Back Cover&colon;

“Grab[s] you from the first sentence....[and] stays with you long after you put it down....It is hard to think of a writer who reminds us more forcefully and wonderfully of what people and families are all about.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Earthy, mischievous, yet gorgeous. . . . [Bragg’s] tales . . . would not be out of place if they were told around a campfire.” —San Francisco Chronicle“As toothsome as a catfish supper. [Bragg] is every bit the equal of . . . Harper Lee and Truman Capote.” —People

“[Bragg has] a true gift for great storytelling (the kind...that makes you think it’s just a plain old story, until he gets to the end and you’re either weeping or covered with goosebumps).” —New Orleans Times-Picayune

Book Description:Paperback. Book Condition: New. The item is New, Crisp, Clean and Tight! This item has minor shelf rub Paperback **YOUR PURCHASE HELPS SUPPORT LITTLE CITY FOUNDATION, A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.**. Bookseller Inventory # 1BXA4D0002TO

Book Description:Vintage, 2002. Book Condition: New. Brand New, Unread Copy in Perfect Condition. A+ Customer Service! Summary: "Grab[s] you from the first sentence.[and] stays with you long after you put it down.It is hard to think of a writer who reminds us more forcefully and wonderfully of what people and families are all about." The New York Times Book Review "Earthy, mischievous, yet gorgeous. . . . [Bragg's] tales . . . would not be out of place if they were told around a campfire." San Francisco Chronicle "As toothsome as a catfish supper. [Bragg] is every bit the equal of . . . Harper Lee and Truman Capote." People "[Bragg has] a true gift for great storytelling (the kind.that makes you think it's just a plain old story, until he gets to the end and you're either weeping or covered with goosebumps)." New Orleans Times-Picayune. Bookseller Inventory # ABE_book_new_0375724443

Book Description:Random House USA Inc, United States, 2003. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Reprint. 201 x 130 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. With the same emotional generosity and effortlessly compelling storytelling that made All Over But the Shoutin a national bestseller, Rick Bragg continues his personal history of the Deep South. This time he s writing about his grandfather Charlie Bundrum, a man who died before Bragg was born but left an indelible imprint on the people who loved him. Drawing on their memories, Bragg reconstructs the life of an unlettered roofer who kept food on his family s table through the worst of the Great Depression; a moonshiner who drank exactly one pint for every gallon he sold; an unregenerate brawler, who could sit for hours with a baby in the crook of his arm. In telling Charlie s story, Bragg conjures up the backwoods hamlets of Georgia and Alabama in the years when the roads were still dirt and real men never cussed in front of ladies. A masterly family chronicle and a human portrait so vivid you can smell the cornbread and whiskey, Ava s Man is unforgettable. Bookseller Inventory # AAC9780375724442

Book Description:Random House USA Inc, United States, 2003. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Reprint. 201 x 130 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. With the same emotional generosity and effortlessly compelling storytelling that made All Over But the Shoutin a national bestseller, Rick Bragg continues his personal history of the Deep South. This time he s writing about his grandfather Charlie Bundrum, a man who died before Bragg was born but left an indelible imprint on the people who loved him. Drawing on their memories, Bragg reconstructs the life of an unlettered roofer who kept food on his family s table through the worst of the Great Depression; a moonshiner who drank exactly one pint for every gallon he sold; an unregenerate brawler, who could sit for hours with a baby in the crook of his arm. In telling Charlie s story, Bragg conjures up the backwoods hamlets of Georgia and Alabama in the years when the roads were still dirt and real men never cussed in front of ladies. A masterly family chronicle and a human portrait so vivid you can smell the cornbread and whiskey, Ava s Man is unforgettable. Bookseller Inventory # AAC9780375724442